


pray a little harder, work a little smarter

by sweetie (Marnie)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Intersex Omegas, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Mikasa Ackerman/Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Pack Dynamics, Polyamory, Spoilers for Up to Chapter 107, Time Skips, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-07 20:06:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15226884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marnie/pseuds/sweetie
Summary: Reiner knows what Armin wants from him. It’s in the sweet little smiles he shoots his way, or the tentative thanks for carrying one heavy thing or another to the small office Commander Erwin had set up for him. He smells sweet, and his touch lingers. He tucks his hair behind his ears, exposing a neck covered with faded scars—a challenge.Reiner is not truly afraid of anyone in the Survey Corps, but he does not want the protective wrath of Eren Jaeger bearing down upon him. He means to tell Armin this. He really does.





	pray a little harder, work a little smarter

**Author's Note:**

> inspiration for this struck as i was catching up with the latest chapters. i just brought all the weird kinks i have into this along with my love for introspection and character interaction. this is terribly self-indulgent, please be kind to me 
> 
> for safety, please please please heed the spoiler tag. you may be spoiled for two major events, and also very confused in general, if you have not read the most recent chapters of snk.
> 
> i have also tagged this as an au, because as i was writing this, i had it in my head that there was a lot more time between major events than in canon. canonically, everything that has happened up until eren leaving for marley took place in the span of three months. i really like ensemble casts, so the idea of the group having more time to build a structure really appeals to me. so everyone is a bit older than they are in canon, but there's a possibility armin is still a late teen. the underage tag is added for safety, even though armin's age is not stated and it's implied he's in a sexually active relationship already.
> 
> title is appropriated from sza's [anything](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuo1J0rlNaU)

When Eren Jaeger is truly angry, words elude him.

Reiner has only witnessed it a few times. For Eren, fighting is as simple as breathing. He playfully fights with his small pack over things like food, or books, nipping at their necks and roughly shoving his head on their bodies until they are flush-faced with amusement and defeat, and smelling deeply of him. He fights with Jean over any little thing, really, but there’s a rough kind of affection in that, too. If Eren truly didn’t like him, he would not interact with him at all.

Sure, he gets irritated. He rages and gnashes his teeth and sometimes he cries, so overcome with emotion that he cannot contain it within his body. But Reiner is convinced he has only seen true anger from him a handful of times. Each time, the object of his anger found their personal space invaded, Eren knocking his forehead into theirs so he could fix them with that wide-eyed _look_ he was known for.

(It intimidated everyone except Captain Levi, who, wholly unimpressed, swept his leg into the Alpha’s with such savage strength that he’d fallen onto the ground and stood back up with a nose bleed.)

Armin is not a fool. Everyone knows this. He’s whiplash smart with determination to match, and he has a growing way with words that has been gaining notoriety in the Corps. But Reiner thinks that, sometimes, people forget that Armin is human above all—and Eldian at that—with needs and eyes and hormones. Eren helps both him and Mikasa through their heats with clockwork efficiency, and informs others about it with the same amount of frustrating honesty that he always does.

Does he have time to train?

“No,” he’ll say, “Mikasa is being all cuddly. Her heat must be close, so I need to watch out for it.”

Does he want to join the hunt for game?

“No,” he’ll say, “Armin’s heat is coming up. I should be nearby so he’s not nervous.”

Reiner knows what Armin Arlert wants from him. It’s in the sweet little smiles he shoots his way, or the tentative thanks for carrying one heavy thing or another to the small office Commander Erwin had set up for him. He smells sweet, and his touch lingers. He tucks his hair behind his ears, exposing a neck covered with faded scars—a challenge. He brings Reiner warm meals when the sun goes down and keeps him company after Captain Levi has run them ragged in the fields for the day. He spends time with his pack, lets Mikasa fuss over him while he fusses over Eren in turn. He laughs with Sasha and Connie at dinner, nods and agrees with Jean’s frustrated rants, and bows his head over papers with the Commander and Levi. But at the end of the day, it’s Reiner he returns to, happily shouldering his way onto whatever space is free—chair, floor, he does not seem to mind—and just exists. They’ve always been friendly, but there’s an unspoken comfort between the two of them now that Reiner enjoys, even if it really is just a seduction tactic.

Reiner is not truly afraid of anyone in the Survey Corps, but he does not want the protective wrath of Eren Jaeger bearing down upon him. Intent does not matter. Reiner knows that if Eren finds the two of them together, or smells him on Armin, there will be hell to pay in the form of bullying and accusatory stares for weeks on end. He would not wish that on anyone. He means to tell Armin this, when he agrees to a game of chess in Armin’s small room. He really does.

Instead, he ends up with a lap full of warm, pliant omega, hands cradling pleasantly round hips in an attempt to still the restless shifting of his hips.

“Reiner,” Armin whispers, shakily. “please.”

And he shouldn’t want this as much as he does. His gums are aching from how much he wants to sink his teeth into the flesh that the omega instinctively exposes when a frustrated growl rumbles in his chest. The low light from the candles on Armin’s desk illuminate his downy hair, change it from tulip yellow to a deep earthen gold. Armin smells like want and distress and trust, and it is intoxicating.

“Why me?” Reiner asks, speaks the question that his been lingering in his head for the universe into existence.

“Because you’re safe.” Armin tells him, “and because you haven’t looked so well lately.”

“I haven’t… looked so well?” He parrots, his hold on Armin’s hips tightening enough to make the omega coo and squirm in his touch, apparently pleased by the display of strength.

“I watch all of you. I feel like it’s my job to make sure everyone is okay, because of everything that’s happening, you know? And I see you, Reiner.” Armin explains voice soft. He’s stroking his hand on Reiner’s bicep, up and down, rhythmic and comforting.  “Don’t pull away from us, please. We need you.”

“Why do you think this would help?” Reiner asks, instead of trying to deny anything. There is no hiding from Armin’s keen observation.

The omega smiles at him, small and sad. “It always brings Eren back down.”

And then he leans down and presses a soft kiss onto Reiner’s lips.  His body reacts before his mind does, and soon Armin is whimpering into his mouth when he dips his tongue out for a taste. Armin follows his lead with the sweetest submission, melting into his hold when Reiner tugs him closer by the fabric of his button down shirt.

He does not realize he’s crying until Armin lets out a small coo and licks the tears from his face. Reiner buries his face into Armin’s shoulder and lets himself have this moment of weakness. He cries for the childhood he didn’t get to have, for his mother, for his people. He even cries for _these_ people, who are not their ancestors.

“It’s okay,” Armin tells him.

It will never be okay.

The soft noises of comfort he is making trails off into a low whine when Reiner sinks his teeth into his flesh, just below where his scent gland is fragrant and temptingly pink.

Their first coupling is rushed. Armin steps down from Reiner’s lap to shuck his pants (and it makes sense, now, why he was barefoot, even though the Survey Corps’ little home is notorious for having cold floors at night) to the floor. Reiner pulls himself out of his jeans, where he is hard and wanting and his knot is already swelling at the base of his cock because of Armin’s fertile scent.

He accepts Armin into his arms and locks his feet behind the legs of his chair. Armin reaches down and grabs his shaft, pumping twice and smiling coyly at the choked noise it gets him. He directs Reiner to the slick folds between high thighs, and sinks down onto Reiner’s cock with a satisfied little sigh.

He’s tight, so tight, but there is little resistance as he takes Reiner inside, ripping around him.

“Fuck, Armin…” Reiner groans, his forehead falling onto Armin’s collarbone.

Armin hums his name in response, and then he raises up onto his knees, squeezing tight on the pull, before rolling his hips back down. He set a rapid pace, his hands curling on Reiner’s broad shoulders for support. His heat probably won’t be upon him for days yet, but he is needy enough that it looks like his want is almost hurting him. Reiner lets him have this, lets him bounce his way to a quick orgasm. He’s rising up onto his knees when it starts, and the contractions are so strong that Reiner groans, because his cock is sliding out of Armin’s body with the force of it. Armin whines, his hips bucking into the air. He looks so pretty like this, with his brows furrowed and his cheeks flushed.

“It’s not enough,” Armin says, “you have to help me.”

Reiner thinks he gets it now.

He lifts Armin into his arms and walks him over to the bed in the corner of the room. Armin melts back into his mattress—and there is a nest of pillows at the foot of it, all of them smelling of Mikasa and Armin—when Reiner sits him down, lets his slick thighs fall open to accept Reiner between them. There’s a smear of white on his stomach where his cock had spurted his release. He’s still hard.

Reiner pulls one of the pillows underneath his hips and slides back home. His hands settle over Armin’s side has he starts a languid rhythm. He can feel Armin’s ribs shifting beneath his palm as Armin rolls his hips up to meet him, and wonders at how easy it would be to betray his trust.

Armin purrs, clenching wet and hot around his cock. He’s not going to last.

Reiner rests one hand on the small of his back, growling when Armin thoughtlessly arches his back into the motion. His other hand gravitates to where they’re joined, to toy at Armin’s flushed cock and then lower, to the sensitive nub at the apex of his cunt. Armin bucks into his touch, losing his rhythm immediately. One, two, three swipes of his thumb over his clit, and Armin is coming again. Reiner pulls him close by the hip this time, fucks him through those contractions and rubs his clit until tears are beading in his eyes and he’s swatting Reiner’s hand away.

Armin reaches up to grasp at his neck and pull him down for a kiss.

“Knot me,” he whispers.

Reiner is unable to contain the growl in his chest. Armin’s answering keen undoes him. The omega cradles him as his pumps his way to his own release, his knot making it harder and harder to pull out. When they are locked together, the furl of heat in his belly releases, and he’s pumping his spend into Armin’s twitching cunt. His climax is long, and takes so much out of him that he falls boneless onto Armin’s front when it’s done.

Armin is rubbing soothing circles onto his back, and when Reiner shifts his head to get a glimpse of him, he peppers his face with small kisses.

“Thank you,” Reiner murmurs into the freckles on Armin’s collarbones.

“No, thank you.” Armin says, sweetly.

He tells Reiner that if they’re going to be stuck together for a while, he’d like to be on top so he can breathe, because Reiner is large. Reiner huffs and puffs, makes like he’s been called fat, but eventually he rolls carefully onto his back. Armin sighs contentedly, his hands resting on Reiner’s chest. He learns the error of his ways when Armin makes an impish little sound and rolls his hips into tight little circles. His cock is trapped between the two of them, and his clit is placed just right against the hair at the base of Reiner’s cock.

If they keep this up, Reiner’s knot will never go down, but Reiner allows him to bring himself off a few times before he stills Armin’s hips and demands that he take a nap. Smiling, Armin concedes.

Reiner will regret this later. Bertholt will know, because he has had the uncanny ability to read Reiner’s thoughts for years now. If Eren catches his scent on Armin or in Armin’s room, he will be chasing him down the halls with Mikasa in tow, stirring up gossip and trouble for their entire troop. For now, he allows himself to revel in the comforting warmth of having a sated omega in his space. An itch he didn’t know existed has been soothed, that old alpha instinct he has neglected in favor of the mission until now.

The islanders are so open about their cycles. He, Bertholt, and Annie found it so hard to adjust to in those early days. Back on the mainland, the way Eldian bodies function is another thing to be ashamed of. Alphas, betas, and omegas alike are paired off as quickly as possible, with strict instructions not to bear more than two children. Eldians serving in the military are given strong suppressants, with the understanding that once their service was over, they were expected to find a mate and put an end to worries over their “animalistic ways”. Talk of a rut or a heat within the earshot of a Marleyan could get you beaten or worse, so the attitudes seeped into the attitudes of those residing within the ghettos. Hearing omegas openly complain about heat cramps for the first time had scandalized Bertholt so much he’d been mute for hours.

“You should go to sleep, too. Your thoughts are loud.” Armin says, derailing Reiner’s pensive thoughts.

Reiner laughs. “Are they really?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about Eren. I asked.” Armin yawns around this admission, so Reiner assumes he has misheard.

“You what?”

“I got permission. Good night,” Armin adds, reaching up to put a hand over Reiner’s mouth.

Chuckling incredulously, Reiner kisses his palm. Armin hums, pats his cheek, and snuggles closer.

The candles gutter out a few scant minutes later, bathing them in darkness. Reiner strokes Armin’s hair and wonders.

 

* * *

 

 

Years later, Reiner stares into the eyes of someone he never wanted to see again, and wonders.

“Sit down, Reiner,” Eren says, after beckoning him to listen to Lord Tybur’s speech.

There is a moment of silence so tense that it feels like it has a physical presence. It weighs on Reiner’s shoulders as he complies, and holds him in his seat with an ironclad grip.

Falco looks upon them with wide, trusting eyes, speaking only when the commotion outside reaches a crescendo.

The look that Eren gives him is reminiscent of Captain Levi’s—strong and unashamed, but there’s something else there, too, something he can’t find the words for.

Lord Tybur’s speech begins, and Eren patiently answers every question Reiner has for him, his stare unwavering. He only looks away when the speech draws his attention. Eventually, he heals his missing leg with calm, eerie efficiency. There’s a cordlike strength in his body that wasn’t there before, and an air of determination that seems less volatile than whatever it was that drove him to such fits of emotion as much as it did in the past.

“The letter wasn’t to my family, but it got to my friends, and my mates.” Eren is saying, watching as new toes burst forth from his body. Reiner knows from experience that this is a painful process, but Eren does not so much as twitch.

“Mates?” Reiner’s eyes stray to Eren’s neck.

Eren pulls his hair back from his neck, revealing healed bitemarks on his scent glands. A shocked little gasp escapes Falco. Calmly, Eren clasps his hands in front of him, leans in, and says,

“He worried about you. He never stopped worrying about you.”

Later, Reiner remembers that when Eren Jaeger is truly angry, words elude him. Despite the blank, wide-eyed look on hisface, he does not think that Eren is angry when he takes Reiner’s hand. If he trusted his addled mind, he'd say there was pity in Eren's gray eyes.

The world erupts in a crackling burst of light.

 

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think, feedback gives me life
> 
> (p.s. i wrote this in like three hours and only did a cursory check for grammar and mistakes and such, so please let me know if you spot anything especially wonky)


End file.
